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Print version ISSN 1415-790X

Rev. bras. epidemiol. vol.4 n.1 São Paulo Apr. 2001

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1415-790X2001000100001

Editorial

José
da Rocha Carvalheiro

This issue opens
volume 4 of Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, after the key achievement of
having been included in the LILACS database of scientific journals. Based on
the number of papers that have been submitted, we believe we will be on schedule
in terms of the reference period in a near future, by publishing the two remaining
issues of volume 4. The next issue will begin the new system of publishing Extended
Summaries electronically, maintaining Abstracts only in the printed version
of the journal.

The present issue
promotes the experience of one of the most productive groups in social Medicine
in the country, in a very important and current thematic: maternal and underfive
child mortality in Brazil. The methodology used combines procedures that allow
estimating maternal and child mortality rates, and correcting under-reporting
and classification errors. Interventions are discussed with the expected competence
in view of the previous work of the Centro de Pesquisas Epidemiológicas
of Universidade Federal de Pelotas.

The theme discussed
is more than an important contribution to the progress of knowledge. At the
international level, all attempts to establish priorities in research in health
for development, regardless of the methodology for choosing priorities, always
point to the same essential issues of the agenda of actions and research themes.

In Brazil, the
recent proposal to set an Agenda for SUS establishes "Reduction in maternal
and child mortality" as a first guideline and includes as objectives and goals:
reducing child mortality and maternal mortality, reducing the rate of cesarean-sections,
increasing the number of antenatal visits, reducing nutritional disorders in
children and monitoring the quality of water.

Only as means of
comparison, in the health Agenda of the U.S., Healthy People 2010, the corresponding
item places "improving health and well-being of women, children and their families"
as a goal.

Evidently, to meet
the objectives of the proposed Agenda for SUS we increasingly need studies of
the nature and quality that Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia is currently
offering its readers, the scientific community, SUS managers and the population
in general.